What is it about maps? I could look at them all day, earnestly studying the names of towns and villages I have never heard of and will never visit.

Of all the things I am not very good at, living in the real world is perhaps the most outstanding.

Most of what has lived on Earth has left behind no record at all.

As my father always used to tell me, 'You see, son, there's always someone in the world worse off than you.' And I always used to think, 'So?

Traveling is more fun - hell, life is more fun - if you can treat it as a series of impulses.

It is not true that the English invented cricket as a way of making all other human endeavors look interesting and lively; that was merely an unintended side effect... It is the only sport that incorporates meal breaks. It is the only sport that shares its name with an insect. It is the only sport in which spectators burn as many calories as players - more if they are moderately restless.

Being a pessimist is just such a gloomy way of looking at things, so I have to hope for the best - life wouldn't be worth living if we didn't have hope. And I also do think that human beings often do do wonderful, correct, brilliant things. So, on balance, I'd like to be optimistic about the future.